Purnea, Nov. 25: A 25-year-old was shot dead by criminals at Lakhanipur village on Thursday evening.

The deceased, Niraj Kumar, a third-year student of Ramlal College at Bhawanipur, was the fourth male member from his family to be gunned down by assailants.

Before Niraj, his father Keshav Prasad Mandal was killed in 1958. Niraj’s elder brother Pankaj Kumar Mandal was murdered in 2005 and brother-in-law Sanjay Kumar Mandal was killed in 2007. Niraj was the only earning person in his four-member family. Now, Niraj’s mother Anita Devi, 62, his sister-in-law and her five-year-old daughter Muskan are only members left in the family. In the previous murders, named FIRs had been lodged against another family in the neighbourhood. Three accused — Manikant Mandal, Nand Kishore Mandal and Sri Kant Mandal — were arrested and sent to Purnea Central Jail. However, they were soon acquitted in lack of evidence.

Satya Narayan Mandal, another brother-in-law of Niraj, suspected the same persons to be involved in the latest murder. He said he did not fear for his life as he stayed in another district but he was scared for little Muskan, who he felt, could be the next target of the murderers.

“The body has been sent to Purnea sadar hospital for post-mortem and a case of murder against unidentified persons has been lodged at Raghubanshnagar police outpost today. An old enmity with neighbours is being said to be the reason behind the murder but the veracity of the claims can be proved only after investigation is over,” said the station house officer of B Kothi police station, Arbind Kumar.